RECORDING OR PEDIGREE NEST-BOXES. 



by scores ; since then many have been brought 

 out by others. We ilhistrate one pubHshed in 

 \}ne Feather by the late Mr. C. H. Payne, C.E., 

 which will sufficiently explain the essential 

 action of all such contrivances. Fig. 74 is a 

 section and plan, and Fig. 75 shows the en- 

 trance both open and shut. The hen steps up 

 a trip-board pivoted about two inches out of 

 centre, the upper or farther end of which has 





PLAN 

 Fig. 74. — Plan and Section of Trap-Nest. 



two catches which hold open or apart two half- 

 doors through which she enters. These doors 

 are hung by hinges (which must work very 

 freely) rather slanting or out of plumb, so that 

 when the bird walks on to the further end and 

 depresses the board and catches, they swing 

 back and imprison her ; they do not quite meet 

 in the centre, so as not to grip her tail. The 

 door at the other end is opened to take her out, 

 when the slide is pulled forward to open the 

 entrance doors again, acting as a "spreader" 

 between the leaves, and forcing them over the 

 catches, which gently slant from the centre of 

 the trip-board, but are square at the holding 

 end. The slide is then pushed in again, and 

 the nest is re-set ready for the next. 



Such nests need, of course, constant atten- 

 tion to take the hens out and re-set them. 

 They are understood to be looked up about 

 every hour. They may therefore suit large 

 establishments where a man is always on the 



spot, better than average English practice. They 

 are most largely used of all, however, to pedi- 

 gree the best layers, and the time consumed in 

 looking after them is reckoned time well spent. 

 As Mr. Boyer writes in Fai'ni Poultry, " Is it 

 as costly to spend five or ten minutes every 

 hour looking after a lot of traps, as it is to feed 

 and care for a lot of hens that are not paying 

 board?" Also the handling of every hen by 

 herself, so frequently, is found a good thing 

 every way. At all events, it is in this way 

 that the pedigree laying strains of America are 

 being built up. There is however a less exact- 

 ing system sometimes pursued, the further end 

 of the nest having similar doors without any 

 catch, which the hen can open for herself, and 



Fig. 75. — Nest Open and Closed. 



giving her exit into a separate " detention " pen, 

 where she remains till seen and allowed back to 

 the other, while the first door is made so that 

 she can enter at will, but cannot return when it 

 is closed after her. This method gives knowledge 

 in most cases of birds which have laid, though 

 some hens go on the nest without laying at all ; 

 but only the identification of every bird singly 

 can give really strict record of the breeding. 



Other ingenious devices have been brought 

 out, but in all, save that mentioned in our 

 last edition, where the hen on leaving the nest 

 was said to be automatically invested with a 

 collar, the human element is necessary for the 

 bird's release. The latest development claims 

 only to trap the bird after an egg has been 

 laid, and if this holds good in practice non- 

 layers will not be detained. With the large 

 increase in trap-nesting, there is every hope 

 that appliance makers will devote greater 

 attention to this branch of their industry. 



